Emma Kershaw has always dreamed of having family of her own.
So you can imagine her distress when her doctor told her she was expected to go through menopause as early as age 30 — only six years away.
The 24-year-old Gold Coast woman discovered last year she had a very low anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) levels, a hormone that is secreted by cells in developing egg sacs.
The level of AMH in a woman’s blood is an indicator of her ovarian reserve. For Ms Kershaw, her results were devastating.
“This came as a massive shock as no one in my family has gone through menopause before the age of 50,” she wrote on GoFundMe.
Because she is single, her doctor recommended that she freeze her eggs so when she is ready to have children, she will have "good quality eggs" available.
The young Queenslander is treating this as a "back-up plan" in case she doesn't meet her Mr Right before she reaches menopause.
She has so far complete two IVF egg freezing cycles. Seven eggs were preserved the first time, but her doctor was only able to freeze two in the second cycle.
She now has nine mature eggs frozen but has been told you should have 10 eggs for a chance at having one baby.
Fearing the prospect of not being able to have a child of her own, she has decided to undergo a third cycle.
